By Glen Leat
October 31 2009

Bath lost a close encounter with Saracens, 11-12, at the Rec in a game where both teams looked fit for the foot of table. Unfortunately Bath are where they deserve to be but presumably Sarries have played much better to be top.

So here we are at the end of October with a playing statistic in all competitions of P9, W1, D1, L7. Be in no doubt, this is definitely relegation form. This time last year after nine games we had 6 wins and 3 defeats and the previous year 7 wins and 2 defeats. In 2002/03 when we finished second from bottom of the league, just edging out Bristol,  our starting nine games gave up 3 wins, 2 draws and 4 losses. Interestingly Chris White refereed that ninth game also and yes, we lost (to Leeds)!

Not only is this appalling start to our season a nightmare for those of us who follow Bath Rugby, it's a nightmare for Worthy Gilson and his acolytes. Carry on like this and Bath Rugby will struggle to fill a ground of 8500 and therefore the future at the Rec (under the old footprint) is secured. Ah ha, it's a plan to keep us on the Rec!!! You'll not be seeing the back of us just yet Mr G, it seems we'll do anything to remain on our spiritual home.

After holding the ball for the first four minutes Bath then let Sarries have a bit of possession and suddenly Schalk Brits cut through the home defence like a "cold" knife through butter - yes folks, it was that easy - for Andy Saull to touch down. A Jackson conversion followed to make the score 0-7 and the ground was suddenly silent. Here we go again we all thought and yes, there we went again. Aimless kicking up-field, slow ruck play, poor passing and too many spills. I lost count of the turn-overs of rucks where we started with control. Mind you Sarries matched us in the error count. They benefited from the fact that their kicks up-field were slightly less aimless and one or two found great position in touch.

Sarries controlled much of the first half, with Bath being constantly penalised at the break-down. At one time White told Claassens to get it sorted or the yellow card would come out of his pocket. I don't know why but at that moment I pictured Tommy Cooper reffing our game. Was it the Fez or the magician getting his card tricks wrong? Who knows (who cares?). Ben Skirving only lasted 16 minutes against his old team-mates, replaced by Jonny Fa'amatuainu. There was quite a lot of handbags throughout the match, with dear old Danny often in the thick of things.

The Bath pack dominated the scrum and put together some exciting drives that Saracens couldn't match. However too often just as Bath gained control then would either lose the ball through unforced errors or just kick away possession. Davis managed a penalty after 20 minutes but missed another 15 minutes later. This later kick seemed to confuse the officials as they both starred at one another, each waiting for the other to make a decision. Did it go over or under the bar? Surely not the ghost of Tommy Cooper striking again?

Sarries stretched their lead just before half time with a Noah Cato try, taking advantage of the space created by Bath losing Cheeseman to the sin bin two minutes earlier. Bath won the second half 8-0, following an early penalty success from Jack Cuthbert and a try from Claassens with 10 minutes left. Both sides tried desperately to win and lose the game in the last ten minutes but alas Bath had to be content with a losing bonus point.

However beneath all our woes I think there is good news. Jack Cuthbert looked assured at full-back and was my man of the match - Jonny Fa'amatuainu, where did that decision come from? Also Michael Stephenson played his heart out making countless runs up the wing but for all his effort this lad was not going to skin his defender but at least he didn't give up the ball. Dixon gave everything he had as did Aaron Jarvis, who didn't want to go off even though his ham-strings looked like they were so shot his legs were rigid as he tried to get to the next passage of play. Danny was making the same big hits at the end as he did at the beginning and Julian Salvi has a motor made from a very precious metal. He's still struggling with penalties but I really think this is comes from his speed of thought and body: he gets to places he shouldn't and referees assume he has infringed. I think we need Spreaders to give the referees a masterclass on how to manage our No 7.

I laughed my socks off when Brad Davis ran on to the pitch as a water boy to tell Chris White that he had wrongly spotted a Bath penalty. Apparently White told him that if he spoke to him again he'd be sent off. I think Brad ought to be known as Adam Sandler in future! Brilliant- reminds me of the days when ERE was a fanzine and we always looked for the funny side of rugby.

What's the game with this music during a break in play? Sounded like someone was uploading Call of Duty on their PC in the press box! Cut it out...now!!!

Did anyone notice all the shenanigans between the two club team managers and the 4th Official (for want of a better term) what was that all about?

Now where's the beer? I need it!

 

 

Bath Rugby: 15. Jack Cuthbert   14. Matt Carraro 13. Tom Cheeseman  12. Shontayne Hape   11. Michael Stephenson   10. Ryan Davis   9. Michael Claassens   1. David Flatman   2. Pieter Dixon   3. Aaron Jarvis   4. Peter Short   5. Danny Grewcock   6. Stuart Hooper   7. Julian Salvi   8. Ben Skirving   Replacements: 16. Rob Hawkins   17. David Barnes   18. Mark Lilley   19. Jonny Fa'amatuainu   20. Chris Cracknell   21. Scott Bemand   22. Nicky Little   23. Rhys Crane

Saracens: 15. Alex Goode   14. Noah Cato   13. Kameli Ratuvou   12. Bradley Barritt   11. Chris Wyles   10. Glen Jackson   9. Neil de Kock   1. Matias Aguero   2. Schalk Brits   3. Carlos Nieto   4. Hugh Vyvyan   5. Mouritz Botha   6. Wikus van Heerden   7. Andy Saull   8. Ernst Joubert   Replacements: 16. Fabio Ongaro   17. Rhys Gill   18. Richard Skuse   19. Tom Ryder   20. Justin Melck   21. Kevin Barrett   22. Rodd Penney   23. Michael Tagicakibau

Referee: Chris White